HAT HARGREAVES KNEW.

Auckland Star, Volume 304, Issue 304, 23 December 1926, Page 20

HAT HARGREAVES KNEW.

BT REGINALD TEMPLE. CHAPTER XXIV. j Light on Sir John. j Bumpus arrived, breathing heavily; after the exertion of walking up the j stairs, and by reason of the mental up- j heaval which Jimmies summons had! caused him. j "I want to have a word with you, | Bumpus," said the latter, inviting the i old man to take a chair. j "Yes, Sir James." murmured Bumpus. ; ■'I trust that you have found everything satisfactory, air, in the running of the j house. I assure you, sir. I have done! my best." "I quite believe you, Bumpus, and I: have no complaint to make at all. I have every confidence in you." "Thank you for that compliment, Sir James," answered Bumpus. "You have said it before, and I was equally pleased, i I think, sir, if you will pardon mc, it j was on the occasion when you likened ' my face to a steak—" I "An English steak," corrected Jimmie. | "True," muttered Bumpus, gazing wanly at the ceiling, and wondering frantically what could be the meaning of Jimmies wishing to see him. He did noc have to wait long to discover this,! for Jimmie decided to play a bold game. ; "Bumpus, a letter has been received at Beggar's End from France. I have a special reason for wishing to know who : got it." j A grey pallor overspread the butler's face. This was unexpected—devastating in its suddenness. He was about to make a reply when Jimmie continued: "Of course, the private correspondence of the servants here is not my affair, and I really have no right to demand an answer—at the same time, I don't think you will disoftlige mc." For a few moments Bumpus sat silent. Then he quietly mopped his brow. His first intention was to deny knowledge j of such a letter as that to which Jimmie referred, but he could see following in the train of such a lie a string of difficulties, whilst, if the truth came out : through some other channel, his reign at j Beggar's End would be over. "Well, as a matter of fact, sir," he Said slowly. "The letter was sent to mc." "You have friends abroad, then ?" questioned Jimmie. — "Yes, sir, I have a friend in a chateau i on the outskirts of Paris—a very old friend—a butler, like myself." "Does he kpow Mias Romaine'" asked Jimmie, little thinking of the exactitude of his question. Bumpus started. Sir James evidently knew something. Again he decided to tell the truth. "Well ... I rather, think he does, sir . . . leastways, the people he works for knows her." "Look here, Bumpus," said Jimmie quickly, "you are telling mc some very important news. I want you to understand that you will not suffer in any way from anything you tell me—on the cotnrary, if you are of any assistance to mc, I will see that you are very suitably rewarded. Now, please tell mc more." "Well, you see, sir," said the butler, "I am not quite sure that I ought to . . . I'm afraid of Hargreaves—" "D—n Hargreaves!" exploded Jimmie. I "That's what I think, sir," murmured | Bumpus. "I've been damning his eyes | for years. He's what you might call a thorn in my back, sir, and a big thorn, too." Jimmie smiled at the misquotation. "Why, what's he been doing to you?" he asked. "Well, he's sort of prosecuted m. for years, and made life very hard for mc, sir. Of course, I have to put up with it for the good of Beggar's End. There have been times, sir, when I felt like throwing it up. It isn't as though he is a worthy man, Sir James." "Oh well, perhaps we'll come back to that point," said Jimmie. "Now, about this French chateau—who lives in it?" "A lady named Mrs. Dubois ... a very nice lady, I understand, according to my friend . . . and . . . well, she happens to be Miss Romaine's aunt . . . that is. Mr. Romaine's sister." Jimmies face expressed extreme surprise. "And your friend has written to you recently," he interrogated quickly. "That's so, sir, and oefore you ask mc the next question, I will say at once that he told mc Miss Romaine has been over there." "I thought as much," said Jimmie. Miss Romaine's aunt is married to a Frenchman," next observed Bumpus, and, after a pause, went on: "I am afraid, sir, I'm getting into a rather deep story, and in danger of telling things I shouldn't. You see, there was a time when Sir John used to confide in mc quite a lot—that was before Hargreaves wormed his way into things." Jimmie nodded. "And why do you suppose Miss Romaine rushed off to Paris like that?" "Perhaps to see her aunt about things that have happened here." "What could it have to do with the aunt?" demanded Jimmie. Bumpus became uneasy and wiped his brow again, whilst his face became a shade paler. "I can't tell you, sir, I daren't/' he said in a hoarse crescendo. "Please don't ask mc!" 'TJut I'm going to ask you, Bumpus," insisted Jimmie. ■ "Is there any brandy in that cabinet?" "I believe so, sir," answered the butler, a wavering brightness passing over his countenance. Jimmie crossed the room and poured out a stiff glass of spirits, which he handed to Bumpus, who drained it in one gulp, after which he remained sunk in profound dubiety. Suddenly he blurted forth: "Well, perhaps, I'd better tell you, sir j —it'll simply matters. There was another sister of Mr. Romaine's who was Miss Billies mother. She and Mrs. Dubois used to be everything to each other." "Come, come, Bumpus!" exclaimed Jimmie with impatience. "How can a sister oir. Mr. Romaine's, who is Miss Billies father, be her mother?" "That's the point," whispered Bumpus, his voice'almost trailing away in his agitation. "Mr. Komaine wasn't her i father." | "Then who the devil was ?" demanded, Jimmie. _ .' "May I be forgiven for causing you any pain, Sir James," stammered Bumpus, gripping the arms of his chair. "Her—her father was the late Sir John Fairfield." At these words Jimmie sprang from his seat. "Bumpus, what are you saying?" he cried. "Do you mean that?" ? "Every word, sir," answered Bumpus miserably, rising with difficulty from his own chair. "Sir John married her mother when Mc irse In Bussia and

divorced her shortly afterwards, without any reason, for she was- as sweet a woman as ever lived." Jimmie thought of Billie Romaine, and believed Bumpus. "Go on Bumpus," he said, with kindly encouragement. "That's all I can tell you, sir. Sir John told mc a little bit of it one night when he had had a good deal of port, and the rest I found out for myself, only please don't ask mc how, sir." "And who had the custody of the child—now Miss Billie?" continued Jimmie. "Well, at the time Sir John didn't know there was going to be a child. She was born after the divorce, and so far as I can understand he was never told. Mr. Romaine carried on something awful about it, and refused to let Sir John know that he had a daughter." As he spoke, Bumpus made a frantic clutch at the mantelpiece, but failed to steady himself. His bulky figure slipped to the floor, and, after a choking, convulsive movement, lay still. Jimmie rang for Hargreaves and rushed to the door, where they collided with the under-butler himself. "Send for the doctor quickly!" he ordered, "and then come here." A few minutes later they helped the old man to a couch. "He's had a seizure," said Jimmie. "but I don't think he's dead. In fact, I'm sure not, poor old fellow."

Presently Hargreaves leant over the head-butler's form and placed his hand over his heart, "Very weak, sir," he whispered, and as he did so Jimmie fancied he saw a gleam of satisfaction in the Hargreavian eye. • • • • On the following day Jimmie set out to visit Billie Romaine. He had given many hours of thought to the information which Bumpus had imparted. One thing stood out above all others, and that was that Beggar's End did not belong to any of the Fairfield family, but to Billie "Romaine." Whether she knew it or not he had yet to discover. The long-standing quarrel between Sir John Fairfield and Squire Romaine was now explained. Romaine had doubtless had a violent encounter with Sir John, and had accused him of ill-treating his sister, and had withheld from him the fact that there was a fiaughter. The facts were much as Jimmie had imagined Periodically Mr. Romaine had intended to give publicity to the marriage and swiftly-following divorce in Russia, which at the time had been carefully hushed up, inasmuch as Sir John held a high diplomatic post. Apparently never could Mr. Romaine bring himself up to the point of dragging his sister's name into the lurid light of publicity. He had worshipped her. He took, however, a quiet delight in living next to Sir John, so that the latter could never be allowed to forget his early maltreatment of his wife.

In a heated quarrel at Beggar's End Squire Romaine had once demanded from

Sir John all the papers pertaining to the affair, so that they might not be seen by anyone in the event of Sir John's death, but the latter had stood with his back to his locked desk, and defied Mr. Romaine to the last inch. Mr. Romaine had told Billie of the episode, and it was for these papers Billie had been seeking in the dead of night. She had wanted them for a very different reason. They were the papers which had disappeared shortly before Sir John's death at Beggar's End. Jimmie found that Billie had not yet returned from London, and he rushed thither with all haste. Bumpus had been taken to the nearest cottage hospital, where he lay unconscious of everything. Jimmie knew the address of the aunt with whom Billie stayed in London, and lost no time in going there and asking to see her. It was with difficulty that he broached the subject of his visit. "I want to speak to you on a very important matter." he announced. The girl flushed, and a little look of defiance crept into her blue eyes. "Speak on, O worthy baronet 1" she said archly. Jimmie took ? the plunge. "What were those papers you went into Beggar's End to get?" he asked. "It isn't your business to ask mc, sire!" she retorted tantalisingly. "Look here, Billie, you must be serious for once, and I'm jolly well going to make you serious. I have found out things about which I must speak to you. . . . Who is the owner of Melton Orange?" "I —my father," replied Billie, falteringlv. "Your what?" A sudden rush of colour came into the girl's face, and tears sprang to her eyes. "My father." sbe repeated. "And who is the owner of Beggar'g End?"' demanded Jimmie.